The Catholic Church was the first institution affected by the abuse scandal to decide on financial compensation for victims. According to the DBK, church institutions will pay victims of sexual assault up to 5.000 to victims of sexual assault if they can no longer assert their claims in court due to the statute of limitations. Here to the application form of the Catholic Church.
In addition, the church covers the cost of psychotherapy. In particularly serious cases, higher compensationmme can also be paid.
For preventive measures there will be a "prevention fund" geb
The concept adopted by the German bishops and religious superiors was presented at a meeting of the federal government's "Round Table," which is dealing with the processing of sexual abuse of minors. According to the German Bishops' Conference, it also wants 500.Provide € 000 for a "prevention fund" to finance projects for the prevention of new sexual assaults.
Current advance is not a rejection of a joint solution of the Round Table
It is not yet foreseeable when the "round table" will be able to agree on a common regulation for compensation, the German Bishops' Conference justified its move. The church, he says, has a duty to offer victims "help as quickly and unbureaucratically as possible even now". He went on to say, "Our present approach does not, however, imply a rejection of solutions that may yet be developed by the Round Table."
In a possible joint fund to pay for therapy costs, however, the Catholic Church does not want to participate. This is contradicted by the fact that religious orders and dioceses have been aming such costs "for quite some time" if they are not financed by the health insurance companies.
To receive compensationmme, those affected must submit a written application. Require a signed affidavit stating that as a minor or ward they were the victim of a sexual assault by church personnel. The applications will be reviewed by a commission and forwarded to the dioceses and religious orders concerned, which will ultimately decide on the amount of compensation. Legal recourse is excluded in this procedure, as it is a voluntary benefit of church institutions.
The money should not come from church tax funds
According to the Bishops' Conference, the money should not come from church tax funds. First, he said, attempts are being made to persuade the perpetrator to pay up. If this is not possible, the diocese or the order concerned will fall back on "other assets" to finance the compensation. How many cases of abuse there were nationwide in church institutions is as open as the question of how many victims will apply for compensation.
Starting from the Berlin Canisius College of the Jesuits, numerous cases of sexual abuse, often dating back decades, had become known in the past year, which had occurred at church as well as private and state institutions. Since many cases are time-barred under criminal and civil law, the federal ministries of justice, family and education have set up a "round table" with experts and representatives of affected organizations to find ways of coming to terms with them out of court and to identify strategies for preventing new cases from arising.